Procyon Advisors LLC Sells 2,966 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Procyon Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 18.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,966 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CKW Financial Group purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DUK. Bank of America cut shares of Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $105.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK traded up $0.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $96.30. 196,416 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,109,735. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $94.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $100.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The business had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $1.025 per share. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

About Duke Energy

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.